Rajkot: Facebook friends loot man with job offer, three held

RAJKOT: They could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their Facebook friends who had called them all the way from Haryana to Rajkot, promising to get them jobs, would thrash and loot them. Police arrested Madhav Jalu alias Satish (21), Vishal Chawda (20) and Bhautik Chawda (21), all serving as traffic wardens with Rajkot traffic police, on Thursday for allegedly beating up and robbing Kuldeep Rawat (26) and Rajendra Rajput (25) of Rs 9,000 cash and a tablet worth Rs 2,000 on October 19. “Jalu befriended Rawat on FB, a fortnight ago. Jalu then hatched a conspiracy to loot him. He promised Rawat to get him a job with the monthly salary of Rs 15,000 and asked him to come down to Rajkot,” said V K Gadhvi, inspector with Rajkot detection of crime branch (DCB). Rawat contacted his friend Rajput, who lives in his neighbourhood in Adarsh Nagar locality of Vallabhgadh in Faridabad district of Haryana. When Rajput said he too needed a job, Rawat asked him to accompany him to Rajkot. Both came to Ahmedabad by train and then caught a bus to Rajkot. After alighting at Rajkot bus stand, Rawat contacted Jalu who told him to take an autorickshaw to Madhapar Chowkadi. “At Madhapar Chowkadi, Jalu and the co-accused were waiting for the victims on three bikes. The accused asked the victims to sit on their bikes and took them to Aji Dam-2 near Gavaridal village on the outskirts of Rajkot where the accused allegedly thrashed the victims with plastic pipes and robbed them off their cash and valuables,” added Gadhvi. The accused also broke the cellphone belonging to one of the victims. Meanwhile, the victims sought the help from a farmer who directed them to Kuwadava Road police station. The officials of Kuwadava Road police station along with the DCB traced Jalu on the basis of his cellphone location, leading to arrest of all the accused. The police recovered Rs 9,000 cash and the tablet from the accused. Also seized were three bikes and three cigarette lighters in the shape of pistols which were meant for scaring the victims. It also came to light during the investigation that Jalu had uploaded the photographs of cigarette lighters resembling pistols on the FB and had invited buyers to purchase them at cheaper rates, presenting the pistols as the real ones. Jalu had robbed five persons of Rs 51,000 who had come to Rajkot to buy the pistols in the past one year. Of the victims, four were from Rajasthan, while one was from Haryana. However, no official complaint had been lodged in these connections.